War Criminals Watch's blog

By Ralph Nader

George W. Bush is on a roll—a money roll with a $7 million advance for his book Decision Points and a rehabilitation roll to paint his war crimes as justifiable mass-slaughter and torture.

His carefully chosen interviewers—NBC’s Matt Lauer and Oprah Winfrey—agreed to a safe pre-taping to avoid demonstrations and tough questions. Requests for him to speak are pouring in from business conventions and other rich assemblages willing to pay $200,000 for “the Decider’s” banalities. This is “Shrub’s” month in
the sun.

READ ON AT:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/732-11-16-10-...

Download Bush War Criminal and Bush Torturer posters here. Bring them when you protest Bush at your local bookstore.

GET THE AT:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/downloadable-materials/173-poster...

By Curt Wechsler
From Fire John Yoo | Original Article

About 15 protesters wearing black bags over their heads sat silently through professor John Yoo's lecture forum yesterday at Baker Center Theater. The lecture, which is part of the Washington Forum, is titled "Crisis and Command" after Yoo's most recent book. Pat Holmes reports.

Students say 'Torture' official is the wrong choice for George Washington Forum.

READ MORE AT:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/take-action/66-videos-a-reports-o...

There is an attempt to rebrand war criminal George W. Bush images as he tours the country touting his new memoir, "Decision Points." Starting Nov.9, Bush will be in Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, California & Tennessee. Join in protesting Bush's appearances.

(Note these are appearances except where noted)
Nov. 9 on - On TV, live and taped from various locations
Nov. 9 – Dallas TX – Appearance & Protest
Nov. 10 – Milwaukee WI
Nov. 11 – Dayton OH
Nov. 13 – The Villages FL
Nov. 14 – Dallas TX
* Interfaith Service - People’s Response to George W. Bush Library & Policy Institute
* “The People’s Response” Reception
* Accountability for the Past; Democracy for the Future
Nov. 14 – Miami FL - Appearance & Protest
Nov. 15 – Dallas TX
* “The People’s Response” Press Conference & opening of “Eyes Wide Open”
* Symposium on Truth and Democracy
For more events, open link below:

International Law & the US - Principles & Practice: Options to Strengthen Accountability & Justice
When: 11.09.2010 7pm - 9pm. 6:30pm Food & Beverages served
Where: Brooklyn Law School, Student Lounge, 1st floor, 250 Joralemon St. Brooklyn
Directions: #2, 3 and 4 to Borough Hall; M and R to Court St; A, C and F to Jay St/Borough Hall.

The last of a three-part series co-sponsored by War Criminals Watch, Brooklyn for Peace, the Brooklyn Law School and New York City chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and the Brooklyn Law School International Law Society : Options for Strengthening Accountability & Justice - Organizing Strategies.

Presenters are:
Debra Sweet, Director of World Can't Wait
Ann Wright, Retired Colonel and former US State Dept official
Charlotte Dennert, author
Pam Spiess, Center for Constitutional Rights attorney

RSVP IS REQUIRED for non-BLS students BLS.NLG.RSVP@GMAIL.COM
For further information, contact warcriminalswatch@worldcantwait.org

By Debra Sweet

World Can't Wait joined a protest against drone warfare. Activists made a predator drone with an 8 foot wingspan, symbolizing those the US uses, at a cost of $13 million each, on people in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We were in Greenwich, CT, because Steven Loranger, CEO of ITT Corporation, lives there in a gated community.

The Bridgeport Post called us "peaceniks." Many of the locals were curious, some friendly, and at least one citizen driving an SUV threatened to run us over if we weren't out of Greenwich by 5:00 pm. I guess we hit a nerve, with 40 of us marching in determined fashion past mansions and Ferrari dealers.

By Chris Floyd
From Empire Burlesque | Original Article

Many, many years ago, I noted in the Moscow Times that shortly after the 2003 invasion, the United States had begun hiring some of Saddam's old torturers as the invaders sought to quell the then-nascent "insurgency" -- i.e., the opposition to foreign occupation that when carried out by white men, such as the French during World War II, goes by the more ringing name of "resistance." Here's part of that report, from August 29, 2003:

Here's a headline you don't see every day: "War Criminals Hire War Criminals to
Hunt Down War Criminals."

Perhaps that's not the precise wording used by the Washington Post this week,
but it is the absolute essence of its story about the Bush Regime's new
campaign to put Saddam's murderous security forces on America's payroll.

PLEASE READ ON AT:

By Glenn Greenwald

From Salon.com | Original Article.

From Project Censored / Original Article

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has become history’s first global army. Never before have soldiers from so many states served in the same war theater, much less the same country. At the eighth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan, the world is witness to a twenty-first-century armed conflict waged by the largest military coalition in history.

With recent announcements that troops from such diverse nations as Colombia, Mongolia, Armenia, Japan, South Korea, Ukraine, and Montenegro are to join those of some forty-five other countries serving under the command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), there will soon be military personnel from fifty nations and five continents serving under a unified command structure.

Continue reading at:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/692-10-12-10-...

Introduction by H. Candace Gorman

From The Guantanamo Blog | Original Article
The article discusses a little known directive by then deputy defense secretary Wolfowitz allowing for experimentation on some of the prisoners at Guantanamo. One of the many disturbing points about this article is how the Government turned the humane treatment of prisoners as a "privilege" to be afforded only those who were considered "lawful combatants." Of course one of the many ironies is that the Government never could get its terminology consistent so the men at Guantanamo were never found to be "unlawful combatants" but were instead found to be "enemy combatants." I know....picky picky.

Little by little the war crimes are coming to the surface. Wolfowitz has moved up on my list.

Click on the link below to read more:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/696-10-15-10-...

Most of what General McChrystal has done over a 33 year career remains classified, including service between 2003 and 2008 as commander of the JSOC, a special operations commando unit of the Navy Seals and Delta Force so clandestine that the Pentagon for years refused to acknowledge its existence.

READ ON WITH COMMENTARY BY PULITZER PRIZE WINNING JOURNALIST SEYMOUR HERSH:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/693-10-12-10-...

By Jeff Kaye

From FireDogLake | Original Article

Last week, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF) published an important policy brief, "Confinement Conditions at a U.S. Screening Facility on Bagram Air Base." The report has been widely described in the press, as in this article by AFP:

The US military is mistreating detainees — and violating its own rules — at a secret prison in Afghanistan, a US think tank said Friday in a report.

The 16-page report by the Open Society Foundation said Afghans call the secret site "Tor Jail," or "Black Jail," and that consistent accounts from detainees refer to being kept without adequate shelter or food or other basic rights.

PLEASE CONTINUE AT:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/703-10-18-10-...

‎"The one thing I couldn't live without in Iraq was my own humanity," says Iraq veteran Ethan McCord, who came home from dropping his children off at school to find a video of himself rescuing an child from a bombed-out van. That was the now-infamous Wikileaks video, and McCord has been collecting his own video and stories from his fellow veterans,
speaking out about what he saw at war and what his friends lived through.

See Ethan McCord's TV interview at:

http://www.grittv.org/2010/10/22/ethan-mccord-iraq-wikileaks-war/

Heads up, NY fans! Come to a very special performance of "The Reckoning," dramatic readings of detainees’ statements and the Torture Memos. Thurs., 10/28, 7-9PM at John Jay College, 899 Tenth Ave, Manhattan.

Get more information:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/wcw-events/details/546-theater-pe...

As part of "Berkeley Says No to Torture" Week, Oct. 10-16, 2010, Andy Worthington spoke regarding the ongoing illegal detention of those held in Guantanamo and the use of torture to extract dubious and false information. His book, The Guantanamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison.

Hear what he said on the link showing Worthington on a video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeHcDNw-jkk

By Dennis Loo

From World Can't Wait | Original Article

"[T]hat principle of habeas corpus, that a state can't just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process -- that’s the essence of who we are. I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are but also the basic principles of rule of law.”
-- Candidate Barack Obama, June 14, 2008, ABC News

Article continues at:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/699-9-27-10-o...

John Jay students and faculty in NYC have put together a terrific month-long series of programs around torture. These are open to the public. So, NY fans, get over there, support the important work being done by these activists and learn a lot in the process. Check out the full schedule:

humansagainsttorture.webs.com

"The one thing I couldn't live without in Iraq was my own humanity,"says Iraq veteran Ethan McCord, who came home from dropping his children off at school to find a video of himself rescuing an child from a bombed-out van. That was the now-infamous Wikileaks video, and McCord has been collecting his own video and stories from his fellow veterans, speaking out about what he saw at war and what his friends lived through.

Check out the interview with Ethan McCord:

http://www.grittv.org/2010/10/22/ethan-mccord-iraq-wikileaks-war/

As part of "Berkeley Says No to Torture" Week, Oct. 10-16, 2010, Andy Worthington speaks regarding the ongoing illegal detention of those held in Guantanamo and the use of torture to extract dubious and false information.

Check out the video at:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/87-videos/706-10-17-10-andy-...

By Dennis Loo
From World Can't Wait | Original Article

"[T]hat principle of habeas corpus, that a state can't just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process -- that’s the essence of who we are. I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are but also the basic principles of rule of law.”
-- Candidate Barack Obama, June 14, 2008, ABC News

Continue at:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/699-9-27-10-o...

John Jay students and faculty in NYC have put together a terrific month-long series of programs around torture. These are open to the public. So, NY fans, get over there, support the important work being done by these activists and learn a lot in the process.

Go here for the full schedule:

www.humansagainsttorture.webs.com

What's our plan to stop these immoral wars and the continuing torture being carried out in our names? And why go into The New York Times next week with an expensive advertisement?

Well, as you can see from all the articles and reports on our website, World Can't Wait is out on the streets and in the classrooms - showing the Collateral Murder video, talking to students, protesting military recruiters, marching and rallying. We're passing out fliers and distributing information about the crimes that are being kept from public view on our websites and Facebook. We're organizing resistance via word of mouth, social networks, and through the grassroots.

OBAMA WINS THE RIGHT TO INVOKE "STATE SECRETS" TO PROTECT BUSH CRIMES

By Glenn Greenwald

From Salon.com

Event

Title:
PROTEST John Yoo Outrageous UC Berkeley Event
When:
09.09.2010 - 09.09.2010 12.30 - 13.45
Where:
Boalt Hall - Berkeley
Category:
Speaking Engagements

Description

Meet up 12:30 PM outside Room 110, Boalt Hall, UC Berkeley campus. Demonstrate your right to speak out against the University of California's promotion of state torture policies.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/wcw-events/details/521-john-yoo-a...

From Courage to Resist

Bradley Manning lawyer hired

Image“He's aware of all the people who are rallying to his support. So his spirits are relatively good.”
– Bradley Manning’s attorney David Coombs

We are relieved that accused Wikileaks whistle-blower Army PFC Bradley Manning is finally represented by an experienced and qualified civilian defense attorney. After receiving a wide range of opinions, Bradley selected attorney David Coombs of Providence, Rhode Island, to lead his legal defense. Mr. Coombs has over a decade of experience as a military trial lawyer and is a former law professor at the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia.

A personal friend of Bradley’s verified the selection of legal counsel during a recent visit with him at the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia. Bradley was said to have appeared to be in good health and good spirits, considering the situation.

READ MORE:

9-1-10 Iraq
By William Blum

From The Anti-Empire Report

Things which don't go away. Things the American government and media don't let go of.
And neither do I.

"They're leaving as heroes. I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts," declared Col. John Norris, the head of a US Army brigade in Iraq. 1

It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of an American, enough to make him choke up.

Enough to make him forget.

But no American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the society of Iraq, have been destroyed, ruined, a failed state.

READ MORE:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/660-9-1-10-iraq

By Chris Floyd

From Empire Burlesque | Original Article

On Tuesday night, Barack Obama gave a speech from the Oval Office on Iraq that was almost as full of hideous, murderous lies as the speech on Iraq his predecessor gave in the same location more than seven years ago.

After mendaciously declaring an "end to the combat mission in Iraq" -- where almost 50,000 regular troops and a similar number of mercenaries still remain, carrying out the same missions they have been doing for years -- Obama delivered what was perhaps the most egregious, bitterly painful lie of the night.

"Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility."

"We have met our responsibility!" No, Mister President, we have not.

READ MORE AT:
http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/659-9-1-10-sp...

By Frances Dinkelspiel

Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist, and dozens of protesters from Code Pink, The World Can’t Wait, the Boalt Alliance to Abolish Torture and other groups marched through Berkeley Law School today to protest John Yoo’s position as a member of the faculty.
After holding a brief press conference outside the law school, the group marched through the halls and into an outdoor plaza where many students had gathered to have lunch. The protesters were wearing latex gloves dipped in red paint and they yelled “Torture is a war crime,” and “What do we want for John Yoo? Arrest! Indictment! Imprisonment!”

FOR MORE : http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php/home-mainmenu-289/6591-protests-g...

CHECK OUT VIDEO OF PROTEST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoNTVXvTPh4

Yale now has two war criminals on it's faculty. Just recently it hired Retired General Stanley McChrystal to teach a graduate level seminar on leadership. War Criminal John Dimitri Negroponte has been teaching at Yale since 2009.

SEE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/the-culpable/36-the-culprits/78-j...

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/the-culpable/36-the-culprits/257-...

By Dan De Luce

From AFP

WASHINGTON — US troops will still be in combat and taking on Islamist militants in Iraq even as the American military moves to an "advise and assist" role with a smaller force, officials said Thursday.

The withdrawal of the last US combat brigade on Thursday was hailed as a symbolic moment for the controversial American presence in Iraq, more than seven years since the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

But while the remaining 50,000 troops will no longer have a formal combat mission after September 1, they will be well-armed and possibly coming under fire as they join in manhunts for Al-Qaeda figures or other extremists.

To Read Entire Article:

http://warcriminalswatch.org/index.php/news/40-recent-news/651-8-19-10-d...